Page:The New-Year's Bargain (1884).djvu/115

 shining black beads disappeared down the little throats. By the time the last had vanished, July was rested, and ready to commence.

"You must know," she said, "that way up North, in a region which I sometimes visit, are two beautiful peaks called the 'Marble Mountains.' No mountains in all the country are so beautiful as they. When the full noon smites them, they gleam like snow; and their glistening seams give out sharp glints, between which lie shadows of the purest, softest gray. But at sunset and sunrise they are all lovely pink, like roses; and so enchanting do they look, that miles and miles away the children watch them, and fancy the fairies must live there.

"It is a wild spot, and few people have ever reached it. Excepting me: I go everywhere. But for a long time I contented myself with hasty calls, and did not force my way to the heart of the place, where the thick shadows lie. Last year, however, I resolved to make more thorough